Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
- CA 02952462 2016-12-21
JVIULTI-FUNCTION SOLAR COOKING UNIT and APPLIANCE
FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY
The present disclosure relates to solar cooking field, especially related to
multifunction solar cooking
unit/appliance and its inventive components. The unit can be assembled as
potable and family styles solar
cooking appliance to be used both indoor and outdoor.
BACKGROUND
Since 2015, the world has entered into a new energy era. Solar energy will be
the key energy in the future for
all kinds of human energy consuming activities. Food (including coffee and
tea) cooking is the most ancient and
important energy consumption activity. Solar cooking is to complete all kinds
of cooking processing by solar
heat directly absorbed from sunlight. Solar cooking should be the daily
activities of bulbous of populations in
the near future. Solar cooking development faces a serious of critical
challenges, They are as 'follows: the
uncertainty of weather how to meet the requirement of three time cooking every
day; low density of solar
energy how to meet the fast and continued cooking requirement; long period, of
preheating may cause the
deterioration and sour of the food immersed in water; outdoor sunlight vs.
indoor cooking; sky sunlight and
bottom heating;. large size solar heat collector and smaller available space;
roof sunlight vs. cooking on ground;
the safety concern of the transparent glass used; heat insulation requirement;
cost effective for more
populations; high efficiency for solar and other energies; to switch cooking
energy between solar energy and
second energies (e.g. electricity) -flexibly and automatically; and no
significant changes to the traditional
cooking habit and custom. To solve these challenges, in last ten years, we
have developed a serious of solar
cooking appliances. Some of them are disclosed in Canadian applications under
the numbers of 2,672,760,
2,673,703 and 2,673,702 on July 23, 2009. The applications also entered into
more than 70 major countries
worldwide through PCT. After the last disclosures, a lot of further studies
have done, many experiences have
been gained. This disclosure reflects our continued efforts to solve the
technical challenges mentioned. above.
This disclosure provides a solar cooking unit/appliance integrates following
inventive features and components
for further responding the challenges mentioned above. They are as follows: a
assembled fluid channel having a
one way liquid communication feature and two way gas communication feature; a
modular solar thermal unit
with two semi-pipes; a modular multi-function cover; a separable heat
conducting and storage material; a solar
cooking unit for any kind of second heating source; an electric heater,
especially an induction cooking heater; a
solar heat collector able to track sunlight in a limited and fixed area; a
disposal utensil; at least two of clambers
and utensils for automatically transferring between solar and second heating
sources. The above features and
components can also be used in different kinds of solar cooking appliances,
solar thermal device and appliances
of second energy selectively and respectively.
- - CA 02952462 2016-12-21
Until today, each of the challenge mentioned above has at least one solution
been developed and disclosed
through our four patent applications including this application. The solar
cooking appliances used these
solutions can complete all kinds of traditional cooking processes by absorbing
solar heat directly from sunlight.
The solar cooking appliance can be safer, cost effective, user friendly, high
cooking temperature, high energy
efficiency, continued heat supply, easy to manufacture and use. Solar cooking
does not generate greenhouse
emission. It also does not generate harm gas to room and harm material to
foods, as BBQ does. Solar cooking
can generate hot beverages and foods automatically without control device. The
solar cooking may become
popular energy consumption activities by billions of populations in near
future.
SUMMARY
This diaclosure provides a. solar cooking unit comprises: a modular solar
thermal unit comprising: at least one
solar heat collector for collecting solar heat. A chamber for receiving a
utensil (also called cookware) and
thermally connected said solar heat collector to receive and transfer said
solar heat to said utensil for cooking. A
functional cover covered said utensil. The solar cooking unit can be used
indecently and directly for cooking. It
also can be used to form solar cooking appliances. One of the examples is to
provide a potable solar cooking
appliance with one or two solar heat collectors.
The potable solar cooking appliance comprises; a. modular solar thermal unit
comprising: at least one solar heat
collector for collecting solar heat. A chamber for receiving a utensil (also
called cookware) and thermally
connected said solar heat collector to receive and transfer said solar heat to
said utensil for cooking. Here
modular solar thermal unit is provided for the purpose of safety, high
efficiency and cost effective. The modular
solar thermal unit comprises: first evacuated tube solar heat collector
arranged and fixed in first semi-pipe
second evacuated tube solar heat collector arranged and fixed in second semi-
pipe; first and second light
reflecting layers arranged on inner surfaces of said first and second semi-
pipes respectively; and a connecting
part connected two said semi-pipes; and said connected two semi-pipes not only
being able to be opened for
said two collectors to absorb solar heat, but also been able to be closed for
said se-mi-pipes to form a complete
pipe for said first and second solar heat collectors to locate in. Here the
combined pipe can be a round pipe or a
shaped (allotype) pipe. in both kinds of the pipes, the focuses of the
reflected lights are located, in the inner
space of said solar heat collector. For example when the combined pipe is a
round pipe, when can arrange the
central line of said evacuated tube to locate in or approximately in the
location of the half semi-diameter (1/2 R)
of said pipe. When said semi-pipe is allotype /shaped semi-pipe, all the
focuses of reflected lights from said
semi-pipe are located within the inner space of said evacuated tube_ The
evacuated tube can be a single tube, a
plurality of tubes or a tube of modular solar heat collector. The tube may
also have a plastic cover or it is a
=
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
toughened-glass tube. The modular solar thermal unit also can be a plurality
of said thermal unit to form a panel
of a solar heat collector; wherein said panel having a mechanism to rotate the
panel along the central vertical
axis.
Of cause the modular solar thermal unit not only can be used in solar cooking
unit. it also can be used
independently to form other solar thermal device such as a solar hot water
system or solar space heating system.
The solar hot water device further comprise a plurality of said thermal units,
manifold/convergent pipe, a heat
transfer liquid, insulation and supporting flame. A solar space heating device
further comprises an electric
power source, an fan and an air channel.
A second energy heater is an important part of a solar cooking appliance
because the uncertainty of weather.
Solar cooking appliance needs and can combine with any other energy heater or
cooking appliance to form a
multi-energy solar cooking appliance/range. For example, the second energy
heater can be any one of, gas
heater, oil heater, coal heater and biomass heater. An ideal solar cooking
appliance can integrate a second
energy source and switch between two energy beaters flexibly and freely. We
also disclosed build-in second
energy heater in the solar cooking range/stove. The solar cooking range/stove
is structured same as the existing
range popularly used to meet cooking habit and custom of the kitchen workers.
The solar cooking appliance/range comprises: a solar thermal unit comprising:
at least one solar heat collector
for collecting solar heat; a chamber for receiving a utensil and thermally
connected said solar heat collector to
receive and transfer said solar heat to said utensil for cooking; a functional
cover covered said utensil; and said
solar thermal unit further comprising a second energy heater; and wherein said
chamber having first open end
to receive said utensil and second end located on top of a. predefined heating
zone of a second energy heater;
and a heat insulation separator isolated said chamber from said second energy
heater. Here the heat separator
can be ceramic glass, ceramic glass with a heat insulator or a heat conducting
material with a removable beat
insulation. The appliance may further comprise one or more of a fan, a heat
conducting and storage material and
a control panel. To transfer the cooking heat source between two energies
faster and easier, the chamber may
have at least two chambers with different sizes; said utensil having at least
two utensils to fit the shape and size
of said chambers respectively. Here the second energy can be any energy except
solar energy, such as
electricity, oil, gas, coal and biomass. The fan is for remove smoke and/or
control temperature of said second
energy heater. The control panel is for measuring, indicating and/or
controlling the solar thermal unit and/or
second energy heater. The separator can be a heat conductor (e.g. a metal
plate) with removable heat insulation,
or a heat insulated and non-ferromagnetic material (e.g. ceramic glass). The
separator not only proteet the solar
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CA 02952462 2016712-21
heat loss through second energy heater, but also reduce the heat loss from
second energy heater to the heat
conducting and storage material through the wall of chamber.
The solar cooking unit/appliance/range mentioned above may be integrated with
one or more innovative
components and features selected from followings. The components are
introduced and explained bellow. The
purposes of the new features are also provided.
A pair of utensils with a flexible and assembled fluid channel is disclosed.
The purposes of the fluid channel is
as following: to allow one single solar cooking appliance for all kinds of
cooking processing; to separate the
ready beverage and boiled water from cold or warm water automatically without
automatic device; to allow the
dry food be separated from water until the water is boiled and cooking
processing is automatically started. The
last purpose is required, because due to the uncertainty of the weather and
the relatively longer solar cooking
processing, the food submerged in the water may become sour or deterioration.
The solar cooking appliance
according to above mentioned solar cooking unit/appliance wherein said solar
cooking utensil comprises: first
utensil and second utensil; a flexible and assembled fluid channel removea.bly
and selectively connects said first
utensil and second utensil for fluid communication; and said fluid channel
having a feature to communicate
liquid in one way and to communicate gas in two ways. One of the selective
structures of the feature is a small
hole on the channel and above the highest water lever in the second utensil.
Here all kinds of cooking
processing mean food boiling, stewing, steaming, roasting, flying and making
coffee, tea and boiled water.
As mentioned before, we always can cook the food and beverage in the first
utensil directly. The difference
between this kind of cooking and the direct cooking in the first utensil is as
following: This kind of cooking can
separate the dry and cool foods/beverages and water in two utensils, The real
cooking processing is started only
when the water is boiled in first utensil and is transferred into second
utensil. At the boiling water preparing
stage, the food is kept dry and cold. y controlling the water in first utensil
and the length of tube in the first
utensil, we can control and always only get necessary water for cocking. We
also can control the cooking
processing automatically without control system. There will have no over
cooked foods and beverage. The
beverage in second utensil is always ready to drink.
In our solar cooking appliance, the chamber means a space defined by a wall
for transferring received solar heat
to said utensil for food cooking. The utensil is fully or partially located in
the chamber. Usually the chamber is a
space defined by a heat conducting wall and connected with a heat conducting
and storage material, said
chamber thermally connected to a solar heat collector. The examples of the
chamber are as follows: an inner
space defined by inner layer of an evacuated tube solar heat collector; a
space within the solar heat conducting
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and storage material in a. flat or camber plate solar heat collector; a space
located in the heat storage and
. conducting material in a heat insulated compartment and thermally
(indirectly) connect to the solar heat
collector. The wall usually made of a beat conducting material (e.g. metal)
and glass. If an induction heater is
used, the wall material can be non-ferromagnetic material. (e.g. copper or
aluminum). For a solar cooing unit
with a second energy heater, the chamber is located above the designed heating
zoon of the second heater and
separated from the second beater by a ceramic glass or a heat conducting (e.g.
metal) plate with a removable
heat insulation. When the second energy heater is an induction heater or an
infrared heater, the separator can be
a ceramic glass.
The induction heater is a preferred heater in a multi-energy solar cooking
appliance. The reason is that the
electric beat can heat the utensil only. At least two chambers with different
sizes and two different size utensils
to fit the size of chambers respectively. This special arrangement allows the
utensils to receive the solar heat
from the chamber wall at solar cooking style. At the induction heater cooking
style, we can insert the smaller
size utensil to the larger size chamber. An air gap will be formed between the
wall and utensil for heat
insulation. Therefore the heat from the induction heat can be used for food
cooking only. The separator and
second heater can also be an integrated ceramic glass with an electric-heat
coating on the back. In this case, the
coating connects to a. power supply. When the electric current passes through
the ceramic glass, the electric
energy is converted to heat directly for cooking. When this kind of coating
electric heater is arranged between
the solar cooking chamber and the oven of said solar cooking utensil, it cooks
the foods in both the chamber and
in oven. A heat insulation plate selectively covers one of two sides of the
heater. The heater also can be
designed as removable from the appliance for repairing or replacing.
A multi-functional cover is provided for following more features: A utensil
has multi-cooking functions and can
cook food and beverage automatically. The cover has a mechanical locking
structure to make the utensil as an
airtight container. The locking structure also makes the cover as a handle for
moving the utensil. For example, it
may be a pair of prominences on the inner surface of the utensil and a pair of
notches in the cover. They can be
matched and locked to move the utensil. They also can let the cover to be
released from utensil.
The cover may have three parts fixed or removea.bly assembled together. The
parts cover the inner space of the
utensil, the gap between utensil and the wall of chamber and the gap between
chamber and the eooktop
respectively. The cover may have an electric connector connected to power
source and being able to
removeably receive an electric heater. A perforated fitting is for receiving
the assembled .fluid channel. The
cover not only can be used to cover the utensil, but also can be used for
covering the second open end of the
solar heat collector, if there is one. The heater in the cover may be selected
from a group of a resistant heater, an
CA 02952462 2016-12-21
infrared heater, an induction heater, a light heater, heater, a radiated
heater etc. Here it is an immersion electric
heater.
As mentioned in our prior patent files, most of solid, liquid and phase change
material can be used as heat
conducting and storage material, if the material can be heat to the
temperature higher than water boiling
- temperature and do not generate harm material. More heat conducting and
storage materials are provided for
above mentioned solar cooking unitappliance. First a separable and joinable
heat conducting and storage
material is disclosed to allow the solar cooking appliance works at two
styles. The fast cooking style concentred
all solar energy absorbed in the solar heat collector to the utensil. The
"cooking and storage" cooldng style
allow partial solar energy to be stored for followed and continued cooking.
The material comprises a first
material (e.g. metal container) mainly for heat conducting, and a second
material mainly for heat storage (e.g.
sand and salt). Said second material can be received in and removed out from
the first material, The second
material containing ferromagnetic material and a non-ferromagnetic material
are also disclosed to meet the
requirements of solar cooking appliance with an induction heater. The second
heat conducting material can be
selected from pure salt, clear sand, marble or ferromagnetic material (e.g.
stainless steel balls). After the food is.
cooked, the second heat conducting material needs to be removed from the food
using a try basket, The steel
balls can be removed by a magnetic
The solar cooking utensil can be a utensil located in the chamber. The utensil
also can comprise fist utensil
located in the chamber and second utensil located outside of the chamber. The
second utensil may be heat
insulated that means the utensil has heat insulation or has two layers
evacuated in between. The size or the
utensil may smaller than the largest size of said chambers and a sheet at
bottom containing ferromagnetic
material The utensil also may be a set of utensils located in a plurality of
the evacuated tubes. The utensil
further can he a set of utensils arranged in. a. set of chambers which located
in an enclosed compartment wherein
heat conducting material is filed to receive solar heat from the solar heat
collector. There are many kinds of
utensils can be selectively used for different cooking purposes_ They are as
follows: a pan, a boiler, a steamer, a.
frying pan, roasting pan.
In the prior patents of solar cooking appliances, we have disclosed many kinds
of utensils for solar cooking. For
example, they are a pan, a boiler, a steamer, a frying pan, roasting pan. All
of them can be used in the solar
cooking appliances of this disclosure. The solar cooking appliance may become
popular energy consumption
for billions of population in the near future. A disposal utensil is disclosed
to meet the requirement of
preparation, storage and cooking in a large scale and industrial processing
for solar cooking. The disposal
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utensil has a hole to connect the first end of the channel. The hole has a
removable and attachable seal. The
attached seal can help to make home- made canned foods for solar cooking. The
utensil may be made of paper,
plastic aluminum and alloy. The utensil may contain ferromagnetic material for
induction heater. The utensil
can be a box, a cylinder can and a bag. The food can be a beverage/shop,
cooked food and fresh food for
heating or cooking in the solar cooking appliance.
The solar heat collector can be any kind of solar heat collector able to heat
the utensil to the temperature higher
than the water boiling temperature. For example, evacuated tube solar heat
collector and flat plate solar heat
colleelor are two typical solar heat collectors that can be used.
- The evacuated tube solar heat collector has two layers. The first layer
is transparent made of transparent glass or
plastic. The toughened/temped glass and ceramic-glass are additionally
included in the glass. The second layer
can be glass or metal. The evacuated tube can be a single tube, a plurality.
of tubes or a tube of modular solar
heat collector mentioned bellow. Evacuated tube solar heat collectors are
selected for solar cooking very often,
because they have very good heat insulation feature and a high working
temperature. .When the evacuated-tube
solar heat collector is made of glass, in case the glass tube is broken, the
broken glass pieces are dangerous for
the user In case the glass tube is broken, the broken glass pieces are
dangerous for the user. So the solar heat
collector may need a transparent cover for safety reasons. (not shown in Fig.
I). The transparent cover may be a
plastic cover. It can be either the mantles for each tube or a protective
cover for an entire collector panel. But
the plastic protective mantles may reduce the efficiency of the solar heat
collector. So an evacuated toughened
glass tube solar heat collector is a better solution, if it is available.
The solar heat collector can be one open end or two open ends. The collector
can be located in vertical, in
horizontal or in an angle less than 90 degree to the ground. Other shaped
solar heat collectors are also can be
used, For example, a camber solar cooking unit is also provided. The camber
solar cooking unit comprises first
camber transparent layer and second camber layer for absorbing solar heat. The
first and second layers are
insulated by air or evacuated in between. A heat conducting and storage
material with heat insulation placed in
camber space defined by said insulation and second camber layer. The material
thermally connected to the solar
heat absorber. The heat conducting and storage material is heat insulated. At
least two chambers arranged in the
heat conducting and storage material. Said chamber having first open end to
receive said utensil and second
open end located on top of a predefined heating zone of a cooking heater
heated by a second energy; the size
and shape of each said utensil fit the size and shape of one of said chambers
respectively; a. fan for removing
smoke of file or for temperature control of said second energy heater; and, a
heat insulated and non-
ferromagnetic material (e,g, ceramic glass) separated said. chamber from said
second energy heater; wherein
said second energy is an energy except solar energy; a fan for remove smoke
and/or control temperature of said
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- second energy heater; and a control panel for measuring, indicating
and/or controlling the solar thermal unit
and/or second energy heater. Two vertical standing light reflectors arranged
in two sides of the unit for reflect
sunlight to said. absorber. The plates can be rotated to track the sunlight
and cover the absorber after cooking. A
horizontal light reflector arranged at the front bottom of the unit for
reflecting sunlight too. The plate also can
be rotated to cover the transparent layer.
To allow the solar cooking appliances to be used in a traditional cooking way,
a new solar thermal unit with
plurality of vertical standing solar heat collector is disclosed. 11 can be
used independently or to form the two
energy source cooking appliance. A fiat plate solar heat collector or a raw of
evacuated solar heat collectors
vertically stands and connected to a heat storage and conducting material on
top. The cooking chamber and
utensil are located in the material. A rotatable sunlight reflector plate(s)
selectively arranged at the bottom of
front door, right side and/or left side. The selection of the sides depends on
the location (corner of wall, in door,
or outdoor) of the appliance and seasons. The reflecting plate(s) can be
closed to cover the solar heat collector
and for heat insulation after cooking. The unit may further comprise an
electric heater. The electric heaters can
be selected, as mentioned before.
Another modular solar thermal unit is also provided. The solar thermal unit
comprises at least one solar heat
collector for collecting solar heat. A chamber for receiving a. utensil and
thermally connected said solar heat
collector to receive arid transfer said solar heat to said utensil for
cooking; said solar thermal unit further
comprises a heat conducting and storage material thermally connected to said
solar heat collector and a ceramic
glass; said chamber arranged in said material; and said chamber having first
open 'end to receive said utensil and
second open end located on top of a predefined heating zone of a cooking
range; said range emerged by a
second energy heater; and the ceramic glass separated said chamber and said
second energy heater. The second
energy heater is powered by any energy except solar energy. For example, the
second energy are gas, oil, coal
and biomass. The examples of the electric heaters are infrared heater,
microwave heater, xxxx induction
cooking heater etc. They can be considered and selected. The second source
heater further comprises a fan for
remove smoke and control the temperature of the heater.
A "material mixed with food" is provided for mixing it with food to heat the
food faster and uniformly. The
material (e.g. balls, net or sheets) is or contains ferromagnetic material for
generating induction heat. The
material accompanies with a magnetic tool (e.g. skimmer or draining spoon) for
checking and removing the
mixed material after cooking. =
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
The "material Mixed with food", the "removing tool", the "insulated utensil"
and the "two layer utensil"
mentioned above also can be used for all kinds of the cooking appliances with
an induction heater.
As mentioned before, an ideal solar cooking appliance can integrate a second
energy source and switch between
two energy heaters flexibly and .freely. Electricity is the most convenient
second energy source. In this
disclosure more electric heaters are provided for selectively and removea.bly
used in solar cooking appliance.
They can be selected from electric resistant heater, induction heater,
infrared heater, light heater, immersion
heater, radiated heater, and micro wave heater etc. The heater cooks the food
by heat one or more selected from
a group of the chamber wall, the utensil, the heat conducting and storage
material and.the ferromagnetic
material in the utensil or food. The heater can be located in the .functional
cover, inside or outside of the utensil,
inside or outside of the chamber, above or under the food. The electric power
may from vehicle battery, electric
power bank, solar-electricity unit or utility power system. The electric
heater usually is separated from the
chamber by a. removable insulation and a heat conducting material (e.g. metal
plate). The insulation is to avoid
the solar heat lost to the space of second. heater. For the induction heater
and the infrared heater, a ceramic glass
can replace insulation and a. heat conducting material, Some time, the
separator and second heater can also be
integrated. It is ceramic glass with an electric-heat coating on the back or
between two piece of the ceramic
glass. In this case, the coating connects to a power supply. When the electric
current passes through the ceramic
glass, the electric energy is converted to heat directly for heating the
utensil.
We also disclosed build-in electric heater in the solar cooking range/stove.
The solar cooking range/stove is
structured same as the existing range popularly used to meet cooking habit and
custom of the kitchen workers.
Because the solar cooking utensil is directly or indirectly heat insulated, so
the electricity efficiency is very
high. Even some time no solar heat is used, the electricity efficiency of
solar cooking utensil is still higher than
efficiency of present electric cooking appliances. The reason is that the heat
previously loosed from heater and
utensil to room is reduced, because the heat conducting and storage material
absorbed the lost heat for further
use.
The electric heater can have many choices. For example, they may be as
following: A induction cooking heater
for solar cooking appliance is provide to form a solar-electric induction
cooking appliance, The induction heater
comprises: a high frequency (e.g. 24 KI-17) AC electric power source; an
electric coil,connected to said power
source, said coil having shape and size to closely lit the shape and size of
the cooking chamber or a. solar
cooking utensil; a temperature sensor or a thermostat; and a controller. The
shape of the coil can be tube, plate
or both.
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The solar cooking appliance with second energy allows the cooking processing
can continue and stable. It also
can make no change to the custom of the traditional cooking appliance. The
challenge of this kind of appliance
is that the second heater usually needs to heat the heat storage material in
the appliance. The material may store
huge amount of heat. in this solar cooking range, the special arrangement is
as following: the chamber wall and
the heat conducting and storage material made of non-ferromagnetic materials
while the utensil contains
ferromagnetic material. Therefore the induction heater can heat the utensil
and food only. The heat conducting
and storage material will not consume the electric power. Furthermore, we
arrange at least two chambers and
utensils having different sizes as disclosed before. When the food is cooked
by solar heat, the two utensils are
located in the two chambers having sizes to fit the sizes of utensils. When
solar energy is not enough, we need
to transfer the solar cooking processing to electricity cooking, we can put
the smaller size utensil in the larger
chamber for cooking by induction heater; an air gap is automatically formed
between the chamber wall and the
utensil wall. The gap is a heat insulation to protect the electric heat
transferring from utensil to the wall. The
larger size utensil can be used on the top of the smaller chamber. We only
need to add a cylinder of heat storage
and conducting material. The cylinder contains ferromagnetic material and has
a size smaller than the size of the
chamber. Or we can arrange an electric heater directly heat the utensil
without going through a chamber.
The sun moves from east to west every day, it is a way to increase the
efficiency of solar cooking appliances to
track the sunlight movement To rotate the solar heat collector with wheels is
a popular way for tracking sun
light. Some time there is no such a large area for rotating solar cooking
appliance. Furthermore it is our
preference to locate the solar/electric cooking range/stove indoor while the
solar heat collector outdoor.
Therefore it is difficult to rotate a completed solar cooking range for
tracking the sunlight movement. An
oblique angle and a single point adjustment solar heat collector provided to
solve this challenge. The solar heat
collecting panel is rotated along a point on the panel or a vertical central
line.
The collector has shape like a A, a convergence pipe on the top of A for
connecting and receiving a set of non-
orthogonal liquid tubes arranged on two sides of the convergence pipe. A first
and higher end of the pipe
connected to the range with a 'flexible connection (e.g, ball shape connection
or a flexible tube connection). A
second end of the pipe is supported by a height adjustable supporter (e.g. a
screw) to adjust the height of the
supporter, therefor the angle of the collector toward to sunlight. The
adjustment can be made by automation
device, or by hand, monthly or weekly. The other solution is that the solar
heat absorber/collector is plate
shaped. The absorber/collector has a structure, (e.g, gear ) to rotate the
collector around the center axis of the
convergence pipe to track the movement of sunlight. A second end of the pipe
is supported by a height
adjustable supporter (e.g. a screw) to adjust the height of the supporter,
therefor the angle of the collector
toward to sun light.
CA 02952462 2016-12-21
Other solution is to put the solar cooking appliance at the 'front or corner
of the building. The solar heat
collector can be evacuated tube, semi-rounded tube or fla.t plate solar heat
collector. Said. solar heat collector is
arranged perpendicular to ground on at least one side of the appliance. A set
of automatic rotated light reflectors
(in front bottom, right side, and/or left side) can replace the rotation of
the collector. For example, when the
appliance is arranged at the south east corner of the building, the solar heat
collector can be arranged at left and
front sides of the appliance. When it is used out door, the solar heat
collector can be arranged at left, right and
front sides of the appliance. The solar heat collector comprising sunlight
reflector (s); said reflectort being able
to rotate for tracking sunlight and for closing the solar heat collection
after cooking. The solar heat collector
may have an automatic controller.
A solar heat collector is provided, it comprises a plate shaped solar heat
absorber having a convergent pipe at
the center of said absorber; a structure to rotate the collector around the
center axis of the convergence pipe;
first end of said pipe connected to solar cooking unit flexibly; and second
end of said pipe supported by a height
adjustable supporter;
A solar heat collector arranged perpendicular to ground on at least one side
of said appliance, said solar heat
collector comprising sunlight reflector aiTanged in at least one side of the
solar heat collector selected from
right, left and front sides; said reflector being able to rotate for tracking
sunlight and for closing the solar heat
collector after cooking.
Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent to
those ordinarily skilled in the art
upon review of above introduction and the following description of specific
embodiments of the invention in
conjunction with the accompanying figures,
BRIEF DISCRIFTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The advantages and spirit related to the present invention can be further
understood via the following
detailed description and drawings.
Fig. I is a schematic side view of an exemplary solar cooking unit
Fig. 2 is a perspective view that illustrates schematically a modular solar
thermal unit.
Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary multifunction solar
cooking appliance/range in
traditional range style,
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary solar cooking
range.
Fig. 5 illustrates schematically an alternative solar and fire cooking
appliance.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Refereeing to Fig. 1, solar cooking appliance 101 and 102 with evacuated tube
solar heat collectorl 101 and
1102 are illustrated, in vertical and cross section views. The collectors have
two layers 111 and 112, and
evacuated in between. They can be two glass layers, a glass layer with a metal
layer or a transparent plastic
layer with a metal relay. The tube has solar beat absorbing coat in the
outside surface of inner layer 112. As
mentioned before, our solar cooking appliance can complete all kinds of
cooking processing, so we use two
evacuated tube 1101 and 1102 to describe the different cooking processing that
can complete in one appliance.
It also shows that the evacuated tube solar heat collector can be one open end
(1102) or two open ends (1101).
Both of them can be used for solar cooking purpose. The solar cooking
appliance ha.s.a chamber that can be any
kind of space thermally connected to solar heat that received by the
collector. Here the chambers 1121 and 1322
are the inner spaces 1331 and 1332 of the tube 110 land 1102 enclosed by inner
walls of the tubes. The
- appliances 101 and 102 have first utensil 1301. and 1302 located in the
chamber 1121 and 1122 that have the
size and shape to fit the size and shape of the chambers. Functional covers
1141and 1142 cover and heat
insulate the utensil 1301, 1302 and the open ends of the tubes respectively.
Third functional cover 1143 covers
the second end of the tube 1101. The covers have same structures except the
second electric heaters 1501 and
1502. So the three cover structures are described through the cover 1401; The
cover 1401 has first part
14011covers the utensil, second part 14012 covers the gap between the utensil
and chamber, and the gap
between the chamber and the cooktop. The cover 1401 has a. mechanical locking
and releasing structures 143
and 145 (e.g. spirals) to make the utensil as an airtight container and make
the cover as a handle for moving the
utensil. The cover 1401 has first air hole 14010 connects the inside and
outside of the chamber 1121. The
second 'fluid channel 170 is an assembled channel comprising a set of
selectively assemble and removable fluid
tubes 171, 172 and 173. 172 is located in the utensil and connected to the
cover. 171 connects the cover with a
second utensil 160 that located outside of the solar heat collector. 173 is
arranged in the second utensil 160. 173
has a part 167 submerges in the food and an air hole 174 located higher than
the liquid level 168 in the utensil.
It may also has a net at the end of 167 to allow liquid and steam passing
through and prevent the solid food get
back into the channel 170. The utensil 160 may be heat insulated by insulation
161 and has a lid 162.1t also can
be a transparent and two layer liquid container 1602 with a tea holder 169_
The utensil 160 can also be a coffee
pot 1603. 1602 and 1603 have described in our prior patent application. The
covers may also have removable
and attached electric heaters 151 and 152 with electric connectors 1510
and1520 respectively. The electric
heaters can be selected from a microwave heater, infrared heater, resistant
heater, induction heater and a light
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
heater. In Fig. 1, '1502 is an immersion heater with a power supply. 1501 is
an induction heater. The coil shape
can he round tube, circle plate or a tube connected to a plate. The induction
heater will be described in Fig. 3 in
details. The description of the induction heater in Fig. 3 can be copy to
here. The electric heating source can be
selected from a group of: power bank, vehicle battery, solar electric
generator and utility electricity. The
appliance further comprises heat conducting and storage materials 1.201 and
1202. The materials can be any
material able to heat to the temperature higher than water boiling
temperature. For example, they can be solid
material, liquid material and phase change materials. For the material used
for induction heater, a ferromagnetic
or non-ferromagnetic material will be considered. Hero. a separable and
combinable material 1201 is used. The
. material 1201 has a first material 12011 mainly for heat conducting. Here
it is an empty cylinder made of heat
conducting material (e.g. copper or aluminum). It is used when solar radiation
is strong and a cooking
processing needs to complete faster. The second material 12012 is mainly for
heat storage (e.g. sand, salt, oil
etc.). For the heater 1501, the material is ferromagnetic material. The second
material can be received in and
removed out from the first material. The material 1202, 12021, 12022 have same
feature as 1201, 12011, 12012.
When sunlight 101 shines on the solar heat collector 1101, the collector
absorbs the solar heat to heat the utensil
1301 and the heat conducting and storage material 1201. The functional cover
1401 covered the utensil. First
we do not connect any of the assembled tubes 171, 172 and 173 to the
functional cover 1402. The food will be
cooked in the utensil 1.302. The material 1202 will provide stored heat fora
continued cooking as shown in Fig.
1 B. When the weather is not good enough, the immersion heater 1502 can be
connected to the power source for
electricity to cook the food. Here the food is nut for baking or toasting. A
second kind of heat conducting and
storage material 1205 is mixed with the nut. It is a ferromagnetic material.
After cooking, a magnetic tool (e.g.
skimmer or draining spoon, did not shown in Fig. 1) is used for separating the
food and material. The utensil
1301 of Fig. 1 can cook food in the utensil directly and in any kind of
cooking processing too when the channel
170 is not connected. Here we introduce a different cooking processing. We put
water in the utensil 1301. We
connect the tubes 172, 173 and 173 as shown in Fig. 1. The open end of the
tube 172 is submerged into the
water. The second kind of utensil 1601 has dry rice or noodles arranged. When
the solar heat heats the water
1306 to boiling, the vapour gathered in the utensil will force the boiled
water to go through the channel 170 and
get into the utensil 1601to cook the food. After the water level 135 is under
the end of the tube 172, water steam
will follow and continue the cooking processing. In case the water stops
boiling, the hole 174 will prevent the
liquid to flow back to the utensil 1301. The net 175 will prevent the solid
food to go into the channel 170. The
utensil 1601 also has a hole in the lid for air exchange. The utensil 1601can
be changed to a steamer (not show
in Fig. 1), a. tee or a hot water container 1602 and a coffee port 1603 as
show in Fig. 1 C and. D. Therefore by
control the water level 135 in the utensil 1301 and the length of the tube
172, we can boil, steam and stew food
in the utensil 160 automatically without a controller. Furthermore the food in
the utensil 1.601, 1602 and 1603
can keep dry food and tea/coffee until the water is boiling to start the
cooking processing. When an electric
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
heater is required, simply attached the electric heater 151 to the cover 1143
and connect the connector 1510 to a
power source and turn on electricity. The induction heater will be further
described in details in Fig. 3. Like the
utensil 1603, the utensil 160Iand 1602 can also have an electric heater.
Referring to Fig. 2, a schematic diagram of a modular solar thermal unit 180
is exemplary illustrated in
schematic side and section views. The unit 180 comprises two semi-modular
solar thermal units 1801 and 1802.
The pair of semi-modular units 1801 and 1802 comprises a pair of evacuated
tube solar heat collectors. The
collectors can be any evacuated solar heat collectors. To make the description
simpler, the collector 1101 and
1102 are used as examples. They are described in Fig i. To combine the
components in Fig 1 and Fig. 2, a.
potable solar heat collector with two solar cooking appliances can be formed.
The solar heat collector 1101 and
1102 are arranged and fixed in two semi-pipes (1801 and 1802) respectively.
Each said semi-pipe 1801 or 1802
has a base material 181 or 183 and a light reflecting layer 182 or 184 on its
inner surface respectively. The
focuses of the reflected sunlight from semi-pipe 1801 or 1802 are located in
the inner space of the evacuated
tube 1101 or 1102 respectively. The semi-pipe can be made of plastic, metal,
wood., bamboo, carbon glass,
fibre glass with epoxy, clay (ceramic pipe) or other material including their
combination. The light reflecting
layer 182 or 184 may be a. reflecting coat, or a reflecting membrane/foil
plates on the inner surface of the semi-
pipe. The semi-pipe can also be a polished metal (e.g. aluminum) semi pipe.
Connection part or parts 1803 and
1804 (e.g. hinges), connect the two semi-pipes. The two semi-pipes 1801 and
1802 can be opened for said
collectors 1101 and 1102 to absorb solar heat as shown in A of Fig. I. They
also can be closed to form a
completed pipe 180 as shown in B of Fig. 1. Two hoops 185 and 186 with two
screw holes to close the pipe for
safely transportation and storing. The hoops 185 and 186 also can be used for
fixing the semi-pipes on the
supporting frame 190 (only part of the :frame is showed in Fig. 1) of the unit
180. Two end cups or couplings
187 and 183 may arranged at the two ends of the pipe to replace or add to the
hoops for closing the pipe and for
safety reason. 187 and 188 can cup the pipe from outside (as shown in Fig, 1)
or inside (did not show in Fig.1).
The pipe 180 can be a round pipe having a circle diameter 2 R as shown in C.
One of the selections is that the
axis of the evacuated tube 1801 and 1802 are arranged at the location of 'A R
height of the pipe 180. In this case,
the central lines of the tubes 1.801 and 1802 are followed (exactly at or very
close to) the reflect focus points of
said semi-pips. All the reflected light from semi-pipes 1801 arid 1802 will
reach on the solar heat absorb
layer5182 and 184 of the corresponding solar heat collectors 1101 and 1102
respectively. The semi-pipe can
also be an allotype semi-pipe with any shape. An allotype pipe 1806 is
exemplary illustrated in schematic
vertical section view in D. The key point is that all the reflected lights
from said semi-pipe can reach the
absorbing surface of said evacuated tube 1101 and 1102, whatever the sunlight
is from any direction. In other
word, all the reflecting light from each semi-pipe should be toward and reach
the corresponding absorbing layer
182 and 184. The focuses of the reflecting light should be located in the
inner spaces.of the tubes 1101 and 1102
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
respectively. Therefore either in the round pipe case or in the allotype pipe
case, the arrangement of the
collectors allows all the reflecting light from the light reflecting surfaces
1802 and 1804 to reach the absorbing
surface of the solar heat collector, whatever the sunlight is from any
direction. To save material of the allotype
pipe, the supporters 11011 and 11021 also can be adjustable. It allows the two
larger evacuated tubes locate in
two sides of the pipe when the pipe is closed for transportation, It shows in
dotted line in D of Fig.1
The glass tube may be brittle (fragile and sharp). It causes some safety
concern to the operation arid
transportation of the collectors. The glass tube is fully located in the semi-
pipe of the solar thermal unit
mentioned above. The setni-pipes can protect the tubes in operation. The
closed pipe can protect the tubes in
storage and at transportation. The semi-pipes further play a role as a.
supporting element and packaging material
for the solar heat collector. A semi-pipe also can be manufactured by stamping
or pressing processing. The
semi-pipe also can be made through cutting a pipe. The manufacture processing
of a Plastic or metal pipe is
easy and cost effective. The pipe shape structure makes the manufacture of the
semi-pipe, therefore the modular
unit easy to manufacture and cost effective. The solar thermal unit 180 not
only can be used for the solar
cooking appliance. It also can be used in any other kind of solar heat
appliances, such as solar hot water system
and solar space heating system. For a solar hot water device it may further
selectively comprising fluid
manifold, (convergent) pipe, heat pipe, heat storage and conducting material,
a heat insulation, a fluid container,
a pump and a controller etc. or other accessories. Furthermore more than one
modular solar thermal unit can be
connected through connecting parts or hinges to form multi-units. When in
operation, the unit 180 can put in
vertically, horizontally or in an angle with ground as shown in E of Fig. 2.
The unit further comprises a. utensils
(e.g. 100), a potable table 1904, connection channel and other components. _
The table has a set of notches to fit
the shape of the pipes for receiving the semi-pipes. The cooking processing
will also descript in Fig. 2. These
components described in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 can be combined to form a complete
potable solar cooking appliance.
Referring to Fig. 3, a multifunction solar and electricity cooking appliance
30 is exemplary illustrated in partial
vertical section view. This is a solar and electricity range (or called
stove). The appliance/range comprises a
solar thermal unit 380. The unit comprises following components: a solar heat
collector 310, a. heat insulated
compartment 31.6 thermally connected to the collector 310. The solar heat
collector can be any kind of solar
heat collector such as flat plat solar heat collector and evacuated solar heat
collector that can heat the utensil to
the temperature higher than the water boiling temperature. The collector ma.y
be a single collector or a plurality
of collectors. The collector can be a raw of evacuated solar beat collectors
(390 shows one collector as a
representation) vertically stands and connected to a heat storage and
conducting material 320 on top.
The collector can be selectively arranged at one two or three sides of the
appliance. They are back side, left side
and/or right side of the range. Here the collector is arranged. at the right
side for drawing reason. The collector
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
has a central heat transferring conduit 311 to collect the solar heat from a
set of branch heat transferring
conduits 312. 311 has oblique angle to ground. A plat solar heat absorber or a
set of evacuated solar heat
collectors connect to the conduits and transfer the solar heat to the
compartment. The collector can rotate around
the center conduit 311 with a rotating structure (e.g. a rotating ball). The
collector also has an adjustable
support 313 to adjust the angle to ground. The solar cooking appliance/range
further comprises a set (at least
two, here is four) of chambers 331õ 332,333, and 334 are arranged in the
compartment and closely connected to
a heat conducting and storage material 320. The material may be a non-
ferromagnetic material when an
induction heatef is used. A set of first kind cooking utensils 3310, 3320,
3330 and 3340 have sizes to fit the
sizes of the chambers331, 332, 333 and 334 (some utensils did not show in Fig.
3). They can be received in the
chambers respectively for solar cooking. A set of functional covers covered
the utensils and chambers. The
covers have introduced in Fig. 1. The chambers and utensils may have different
sizes. The smaller size utensil
3340 can be received in the larger size chamber 333 for electric heater to
cook food. (as shown in A of Fig.3)
There is an air gap 3334 fonned for heat insulation when electricity cooks the
food. At least one utensil 360
locates outside of the chambers. An assembled fluid channel 370 removeably and
selectively connects the
utensil 331 and the utensil 360 for fluid communication. The fluid channel 137
has a variable length or several
connectable sections for using in different cases. The channel has three
opening point for fluid communication.
They are first open end 3710 in the utensil 3310, second open end 3730 in
utensil 360 and third opening point
374 in the hole 374. 374 is higher than the liquid level 368 in the utensil.
The open end 3730 may further has a
net 375 to allow the liquid going through and protecting the solid food
material get into the channel. 1. At least
a functional cover 3401 covers the utensil 3310. The functional cover 3401 has
the same features as cover 1401
disclosed in the description of Fig. 1. This arrangement and working
processing are the same as the channel 170
and utensil 1301 and 160 in Fig.1 . We can simply change the component numbers
from =Ixx in Fig. 1 to 3xx in
Fig. 3 and copy the description to here for the description of Fig. 3. The
chambers 331 -334 are arranged on the
tops of the designed heating zones of a set of electric heaters respectively.
A heat insulation separator 3501 (e.g.
a ceramic glass) isolates the chamber and the electric heater. The sizes of
four chambers 331-334 may be one
larger than another in order, or at least have one chamber has larger size
than others. An oven 390 with a door
391 and a drawer 392 are also arranged. The oven uses same electric heaters
for utensils or another kind of
electric heater 356 (e.g. an infrared heater). A cooktop 315 covers the range.
The cooktop has a set of holes for
the utensils to pass through. each hole has a corresponding chamber cover. The
cover can be the functional
cover or cooktop covers (did not show). A control panel 255 is above the
cooktop or under the cooktop for
measuring, indicating and control the cooking processing. A liquid tube 383
arranged in the range for generate
hot water, A fan 382 for generate hot air, The fan can be arranged in oven and
removeably in one of the
chambers. We also can use the fan for heater and add a. controller to control
the fan. All the components are
arranged in a shell to form a completed range. A magnetic strength and
overheat warning device 256 is
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CA 02952462 2016-12-21
arranged at the control panel, The range may have one electric cooking heater
335 that is directly arranged
under the cooktop without connecting any of the chamber and heat conducting
and storage material. The heater
is used by the largest size utensil and any other utensils with any special
size and shape when the range is at
electricity cooking style.
For easy transferring between solar cooking and second heater cooking, there
is another alternative solution.
The chambers 3301-3304 may have the same siz,e. The utensils have two
different sizes. The larger size utensils
fit the size of the chambers for solar heat cooking. When the second energy
heater is in operation, we can insert
the smaller size utensils into the larger size chambers. There is an air gap
between the chamber wall and the
utensil wall for heat insulation. It is same as shown in A of Fig.3. The
detailed example will described in Fig. 4.
When sunlight 101 shines on the solar heat collector 310, the absorbed heat by
the collector 310 is transferred to
the heat storage and conducting material 320 that placed in the compartment
316 and the solar heat collector
310. The solar heat will cook the food in the utensils. The chamber wall 331-
334 made of' heat conducting
material (e.g. metal) transfers the solar heat to the utensil 3310-3340 for
cooking food in the utensil when the
chamber sizes fits the utensil sizes. The functional cover (e.g. 341) have a
part closely attached to the cooktop
315 for preventing the cooking fluid leaked. to the chambers. When electric
heating is required, we can move the
small size utensil 3340 from the chamber 334 to a larger size chamber 333. An
air gape 3334 will be formed
between the utensil wall 3334 and chamber wall 333 as heat insulation. To turn
on the electric heater 353, the
heater will heat the utensil 3340 at the bottom of the utensil only. The
leaked heat from utensil will be
transferred to the heat storage and conducting material 320 and stored for
next solar cooking or for hot air
(though fun 282) or hot water (through water tube 383). This range has no heat
loss to the surrounding
investment as other ranges do. Here the fun 282 can locate in the chamber, on
or under the cooktop. The electric
power sauce and the heater can be many kinds of electric sauces and heaters as
mentioned in the description of
Fig. 1. In Fig, 3, five induction cooking heaters are used. Heater 351 is
described as an example. 352, 353 and
354 have the same structures. The heater 351 comprises a. high frequency power
source 3511, a coil 3510, a. fan
3512 and a thermostat or temperature controller included in control panel.,
The chamber 331 has first open end
3311 for receiving the utensil and a second end 3312 located on a predefined
heating zone 3513 of the induction
cooking heater 351.. A heat insulation separator (e.g. ceramic glass) isolates
the chamber from the induction
heater. The walls of chambers and the heat storage and conducting material 320
are made of non- ferromagnetic
materials. For example the chamber wall is made of copper or aluminum. The
utensil (at least its bottom) is
made of or contains ferromagnetic material or attached with a ferromagnetic
material. When the electric power
turns on, an AC current is generated in the high frequency (e.g. 24 kHz) power
sauce 35]! The current passes
through the coil of copper wire 3510. The resulting oscillating magnetic field
induces a magnetic flux to
17
CA 02952462 2016-12-21
repeatedly magnetize the ferromagnetic material in the utensil. Therefore
large eddy current is generated to
produce heat at the resistance of the utensil for food cooking. Of cause, we
can also allow the wall of the
chamber containing ferromagnetic material (e.g. stainless steel). The
induction current will heat both chamber
wall and the utensil wall to coke food, In this case more electric heat may be
transferred to the heat conducting
and storage material. Some time, the heat insulated compartment 316 including
its chambers may be removed
for the range lobe used. as a regular induction cooking appliance. In the
chamber 331, another utensil 360 is
arranged outside of the chamber. A functional cover 341 covers the utensil and
chamber, An assembled fluid
channel 310 is arranged. hi this case, following components have the same
features: chambers 1.301 and 331,
utensils 1301 and 3310, functional covers 1401 and 341, heaters 1501 and 351,
assemble fluid channel 170 and
370, utensils 160 and 360 and heat conducting and storage materials 1201 and
120. Therefore all the description
in fig.1 of these components can be used and copied to Fig. 3. Only we need is
to change the component
numbers respectively. For safety reason, at least the top wall of the heat
insulated compartment contains
ferromagnetic material.
Referring to Fig. 4, an alternative solar cooking appliance 40 is exemplary
illustrated in vertical view. The range
has a plat solar heat collector 410. The plate can be a flat plate or a. curve
plate. Here it is a. camber plate. The
collector comprises a transparent plate 411 for sunlight to passing through
and heat insulation and a solar heat
absorbing plate 412. The appliance has chambers 431, 432õ and 433 at the same
size. The chambers are
arranged within heat conducting and storage material 420 that is beat
insulated by the solar beat collector and
insulations, A set of fit size utensils 4310, 4320 and 4330 (did not show in
Figure) fit the sizes of the chambers
for receiving solar beat from the heat conducting and storage material 420 for
solar cooking. Second set of
utensils 4311, 4321, and 4331 have a size smaller than the size of the
chambers for second energy heaters (as
shown in the chambers). The chambers and utensils can also be arranged to have
different sizes for transferring
between solar cooking model and second heating model as discussed in Fig. 3.
The second energy heater can be
any kind of electric heater such as resistance heater or induction heater as
shown in Fig. 3 and descripted. Here
it is an infrared heater comprising an infrared heating source 451, 452 and
453 and a power supply. A glass (es.
ceramic glass) 455 isolated the utensil and the second heaters. The chambers
have .first open ends to receive the
fit size utensils respectively for solar cooking. The second ends of the
chambers are located on tops of
predefined healing zones of electric heaters 451, 452 and 453. The appliance
may also has an electric heater
directly arranged under the cooktop 415 to receive any size utensil directly.
Two vertical rotatable sunlight
reflectors (e.g. plates) 415 and 416 (did not show) arranged at two sides of
the appliance for reflect sunlight to
the solar heat absorber 410. The reflectors may be closed to cover the
transparent layer 411 of the solar heat
collector after operation for protection purpose. The reflector may also can
fold through a hinge 4160 to avoid a
light scattering. A. horizontal sunlight reflector or a reflecting coat 417 is
arranged at the bottom and front of the
is
CA 02952462 2016-12-21
appliance. The solar cooking appliance 40 further comprises an oven 490. A
control panel 455 shows a. control
system which measure, indicate and control the temperatures of each utensil
and the timing of cooking
= processing for utensils. The wall of the chamber 431 -433 is made of
light reflecting material (e.g. polished
metal).
When the sun light 10l shares on the solar heat collector 40, the collector
410 absorbs the solar heat and
transfers it to the heat conducting and storage material 420 and the chamber
walls 431., 432 and 433 to cook the
food in thc utensils 4310, 4320 and 4330. When the solar heat is not enough
for cooking, we change the utensils
to the small size utensils 4311, 4321 and 4331. An air gap will be formed
between the utensil wall and the
chamber wall for heat insulation. We also take out the heat insulation from
the bottom of utensils, the bottom of
the utensil will connect the glass plate 454 directly. To turn on the
electricity, the infrared from the heater 451,
452 and 453 will heat the predefined zone that is wider the bottom of the
utensils. So the food is cooked.
Fig. 4 further shows food and beverage packing container and utensil: a can
439. The solar cooking can is
similar with the food and beverage cans in market. The difference is that the
can in this disclosure has a hole
4391 sealed by a removable seal. Before cooking, the seal needs to be removed
for pressure release. A tube
4372 of the assembled fluid channel at the functional cover (did not show)
need to insert its one end into the can
and other end to connect the bole of the cover. This is for prevent the liquid
leakage in the utensil. A food bag
438 in chamber 432 has some features. The bag is made of material selected
from paper, plastic, metal foil, (e.g.
aluminum or steel foil), and their combination. The food is cleared and with
condiment for keeping in
refrigerator. The bag is evacuated, or filed with air or nitrogen. The bag has
a removable seal tab too for closing
a hole. The tab needs to be removed before putting the bag into the solar
cooking appliance for cooking. As
discussed in Fig. 2 and 3, the appliance 40 further comprise the utensils,
functional covers, assembly fluid
channel etc. Even they did not show in this Figure, but they can simple copy
to Fig. 4 and descriptions by
change the first digital numbers of the components.
19
